Solapur Totally Explained

Everything about Solapur totally explained

Solapur is a city and a municipal corporation in south eastern Maharashtra, India near the Karnataka border and is the administrative headquarters of Solapur District.Solapur is a melting pot with a confluence of Marathi, Telugu and Kannada languages.It is an important junction on the north-south railway line. Solapur is a town with an array of small and medium scale industries. Solapur is a leading center for cotton mills and power looms. Solapur bed-sheets ('chaddars') have earned fame and reputation for their novel designs and durability. The chief deity of the city is Shri Siddeshwar.The "Nandidhwaj" procession on Makar Sankranti fair is attended by millions of devotees.
Solapur is transport hub connecting Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is well connected by Road and Rail to major districts and cities. Akkalkot is the site of Akkalkot Swami Maharaj Math, visited yearly by huge number of people from Maharashtra and neighbouring Karnataka. Also a annual fair is held in the month of January wherein huge croud comes from various parts of country, which is called as Gadda Fair in vernacular language.

Introduction

The Solapur District was ruled by various dynasties such as Andhrabhratyas, Chalukyas, Rashtrkutas, Yadavas and Bahamanis. 'Solapur' is believed to be derived from two words 'Sola' meaning sixteen and 'pur' meaning village. The present city of Solapur was considered to be spread over sixteen villages viz. Aadilpur, Ahmedpur, Chapaldev, Fatehpur, Jamdarwadi, Kalajapur, Khadarpur, Khandervkiwadi, Muhammadpur, Ranapur, Sandalpur, Shaikpur, Solapur, Sonalagi, Sonapur and Vaidakwadi. Recent research work however shows that the name SOLAPUR is derived not from the congregation of sixteen villages.It is evident from the inscriptions of Shivayogi Shri.Siddheshwar of the time of the Kalachuristis of Kalyani, that the town was called Sonnalage which came to be pronounced as Sonnalagi. The town was known as Sonnalagi even up to the times of Yadavas. A Sanskrit inscription dated Shake 1238, after the downfall of the Yadavas found at Kamati in Mohol shows that the town was known as Sonalipur. One of the inscriptions found in Solapur fort shows that the town was called Sonalpur while another inscription on the well in the fort shows that it was known as Sandalpur.
   During the Muslim period, the town was known as Sandalpur. It is therefore most probably that that during the course of time the name Solapur was evolved by dropping 'na' from the name Sonalpur. Subsequently the British rulers pronounced Solapur as Sholapur and hence the name of the district.
   The present Solapur district was previously part of Ahmednagar, Pune and Satara districts. In 1838 it became the Sub-district of Ahmednagar. It included Barshi, Mohol, Madha, Karmala, Indi, Hippargi and Muddebihal Sub-divisions. In 1864 this Sub-district was abolished. In 1871 this district was reformed joining the Sub-divisions viz. Solapur, Barshi, Mohol, Madha and Karmala and two Sub-divisions of Satara district viz. Pandharpur, Sangola and in 1875 Malshiras Sub-division was also attached. After the State reorganisation in 1956 Solapur was included in Mumbai State and it became a full fledged district of Maharashtra State in 1960.
   The importance of Solapur is unique in the history of India in the sense that this district enjoyed the freedom even before independence. The citizens of Solapur enjoyed the independence for three days from 9th to 11th May 1930. The brief history runs like this. After the arrest of Mahatma Gandhi in May 1930, protests and demonstrations against British rule were held throughout the India. Large scale rallies and protests were done at Solapur also. Many citizens lost their lives in the police firings. Due to this the irate mob attacked the police stations. Out of fear the police and other officers ran out of Solapur. During this period the responsibility of law, order and security of citizens was on the shoulders of Congress Party leaders. Then city congress President Shri. Ramkrishna Jaju, with his other congressmen maintained the law and order for a period of three days from 9 to 11 May 1930.
   Secondly, the Solapur Municipal Council was the first Municipal Council of India to host the national flag on the Municipal Council building (Now Municipal Corporation) Solapur in 1930. The brief history runs like this. Taking the spirit of Dandi March from Mahatma Gandhi, the freedom fighters of Solapur decided to host the national flag on the Solapur Municipal Council. Accordingly, senior freedom fighter from Pune Shri. Annasaheb Bhopatkar hoisted the National Flag on 6 April 1930 on Municipal Council. This was the first and the unique incidence of such kind throughout the country. The British rulers, due to irritation declared martial law at Solapur and arrested many leaders and innocent citizens on false charges. The freedom fighters Shri. Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri. Kurban Hussain, Shri. Jagnnath Shinde and Shri. Kisan Sarda were arrested on charges of killing two policemen of Mangalwar police station. The lower court sentenced the punishment of hanging till death for these freedom fighters. The High Court also confirmed the same decision and these four freedom fighters were hanged till death on 12 January 1931. As a mark of respect to these freedom fighters, the statues of these freedom fighters have been installed in the heart of the city and the location has been named as Hutatma Chowk. Solapur is one of the biggest cities in Maharashtra, situated near the borders with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is an ancient historical and religious place with Shri Siddharameshwar as its "Gramadaiwata". Shri Siddharameshwar was a historical figure of the 12th century whose "Karmayoga" on his own native land-Solapur, turned him into a God-figure over the course of time.There was a great saint Shri.Siddarama,who preached the teachings of Shri.Basaweshwara. A young girl, inspired by the teachings of this saint wished to marry the saint. Shri.Siddaram being a brahamachari denied to marry her and gave permission to marry with his Yogadanda. The same marriage function is celebrated every year on the Makar Sankranti for three days on Bhogi, Sankrant and Kinkrant. The Nandi Dhwajas are presumed as Bride and Groom for the marriage. This festival falls around 14th Jan. every year. A fare popularly known as Gadda Jatra is arranged for fifteen days during this period
   Siddharama was a great conributor to Lingayata religion and he's considered as one of the six prophets of Lingayat religion. He had gained the "Siddhi". As Solapur was a drought prone area, Shri Siddharameshwar dug a lake with the help of 4000 "Sharanas" to solve the problem of potable water. He entombed himself alive (Shivyogsamadhi) at Solapur.
   During the Indian independence movement, the people of Solapur enjoyed full freedom on 9th, 10th and 11th May 1930. However, this resulted in the executions of Shri Mallappa Dhanshetti, Shri Kurban Hussein, Shri Jagannath Shinde and Shri Kisan Sarda who were hanged on 12 January 1931, in the prison at Pune. This resulted in the city becoming recognized as "The City of Hutatmas". Solapur is well-connected with metro-cities like Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore with rail and roads.
   Nanaj 18 km from Solapur is the habitat of the Great Indian Bustard, locally called Maldhok. The GIB was discovered by Shri B.S.Kulkarni in 1978, and Nanaj is now an international eco destination. Mr Kulkarni has taken immense efforts for the conservation of the great Indian bustard and the lakes in and around solapur. The world bustard population is just in hundreds a nanaj hosts arounnd 23 bustards. Pandharpur, the holiest place in Maharashtra for Hindus, with its Vitthal-Rakhumai temple on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river, is only 70 km from Solapur. Akkalkot, just 38 km from Solapur is a holy place due to the shrine of Akkalkot Swami. Across the border in Gulbarga District of Karnataka, is Ganagapur, another place of pilgrimage. The city of Bijapur in Karnataka, 109 km from Solapur, is widely known for its 'Gol-Gumbaj', a highly regarded piece of architecture.

Up coming solapur Dist. with various co. interested in solpaur to invest. Co. in solapur Industires Balaji Amines (chemical factory)Listed on BSE and NSE Smruti organics ltd. (chemical factoey ) listed on BSE

Geography

Solapur is located at . It has an average elevation of 458 metres (1502 feet).

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Solapur had a population of 873,037. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Solapur has an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 75%, and female literacy is 58%. In Solapur, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Languages/Dialects

Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu

Society and culture

Public Library

Shri Hirachand Nemchand Library Solapur (External Link

)

Entertainment and leisure

Theatres

Bhagwat Theatre

Prabhat Talkies

Kalpana Talkies

Meena Talkies

Aasha Talkies

Shalimar Talkies

Laxminarayan Talkies

Gentyal Talkies

Hutatma Smruti Mandir - Drama Theatre

Sujata Chitra Mandir -

Famous textile showrooms

Pulgam Textiles, Daji peth

Chilka Textiles, Daji peth

Chatla Textiles, Daji peth

Jamashree

and many more in the areas of Daji peth and Navi peth..

Places of interest

Dargah of Hazrat Shah Zahur

Dargah of Hazrat Sayed Bukhari

Temple of Lord Siddharameshwar

Hipparga Lake - a scenic nature area

Kambar Lake, newly named as Sambhaji lake

IndraBhavan - Solapur Corporation building

Bhui-Kot Castle - castle of 15th century and under the Bahamani period

Hutatma Garden

Pandharpur Vithoba Temple (70 km away)

Akkalkot - Swami Samarth (35 km away)

HYDRA- saifan mulk chishti dargah (near about 20 km from Akkalkot)

Nannaj- Bird Sanctaury (25 km away)

Tuljapur - Tuljabhavani Temple (45 km away)

Naldurg Fort (approx. 45 km towards Hyderabad)

Barshi "Bhagvant" Temple (approx. 70 km away)

Educational institutions

Begum Karigar Girls Urdu High School, Sholapur.

UES MAhila Mahila Mahavidhyalay.

S.R. Girls' High School, Sevasadan, Sholapur.

Maharashtra Technical High School is well know as North Court which was established by British Govt. in 1901.

Modern High School,Gandhi Nagar,Solapur.

Dr.Ambedkar High School & Night School,Mechanic Chowk,Solapur.

Haribhai Deokaran High school (H.D.H.S)

Nutan marathi vidyalaya (Nu.Ma.Vi.)

Walchand College of Arts and Science

B S Kulkarni High School, Tilak Chowk, Solapur.

Sangameshwar College (External Link

)

Government Polytechnic Solapur

Solapur University

College Of Pharmacy-One of the premier institute in Maharashtra offering Pharma education. R.Y.Patil M.Pharm(Pharmacology) is the principal of this prestigious institute.21 students out of 43 have been qualified in GATE-2007 from this college.

Bharatratna Indira Gandhi College of Engineering

Walchand Institute of Technology 1

Dr. Vaishampayan Memorial Government Medical College

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay Dental College

College of Architecture (External Link

)

Dayanand Institutions Founded in 1940. It is located on a campus of 65 acres (26 ha) of land with four colleges and one high school and a model school. The oldest college in Solapur University.

Indira Gandhi Engineering College, Kegav, Solapur

S.P.M.Polytechnic,kumathe (External Link

)

Brahmdevdada Mane Institute of technology, Belati. (External Link

)

S.E.S Polytechnic

S.S.S M'S college of Architecture

S.V.E.R.I's College of Engineering Pandharpur, prominent engineering college situated pandharpur

A.R.Burla Mahila Mahavidylay(Girls College), Sakar Peth

Abhinav Hi-Tech Enginnering College, Majarewadi Hotagi Road

Little Flower Convent High School,

Sath Rastha Solapur

Balidan Chowk is one of the Historical Place in Solapur History, Posted Tuljapur Ves Soalpur

Abhijit Kadam Institute of Management

St.joseph high school solapur one of the oldest school in solapur established in 1897

Famous personalities

(External Link

)Prof. Shriram Pujari] (eminent linguist and scholar)

Kavirai Ram Joshi who penned the famous lavnis

Shubrai Maharaj The artist guru whose paintings are a marvel

Marathi Natya Sangit - famous actor Faiyyaj, actress Shashikala,

Raja Salgar, Sarla Yewalekar are also the famous personalities in the Natya (drama) and film sectors

Dwarkanath Kotnis

Sushilkumar Shinde, Minister of Power (Delhi), former Chief Minister (Maharashtra)

Shivaraj Patil, Home Minister, Govt. of India

Indu (Classical movie actress)

Walchand Hirachand Doshi

Atul Kulkarni Atul Kulkarni is an Indian actor and winner of a National Award for his portrayal of Shriram Abhyankar(श्रीराम अभयंकर ) in the film Hey Ram. Although he started his career in theatre, he's won critical acclaim for his performances in films like Page 3 and more recently, the Aamir Khan starrer Rang De Basanti. He has acted in several Marathi movies including Maati Maay (A Gravekeeper's Tale) that was recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Atul Kulkarni (born September 10, 1965 in Karnataka, India) is an Indian Actor who has won two National Awards.Recently he's given amazing performance in VALU film. Edited (Swapnil Pawale ) Posted:- [Saitshmane, solapur] (External Link

)date 10th April 2008

Suresh Gupta, SEBI

T.V.Sardeshmukh author and acdemay award winner

Samita Bangargi (lead actress, movie Ramji Londonwale)

Manjuram Shinde

B.S.Kulkarni (Naturalist who discovered the Great Indian Bustard in 1978 at Nanaj]B S K foundation

Achyut Godbole

Polly Umrigar

Sarla Yewlekar

Dr Jabbar Patel the Movieman and famous director of Ghashiram Kotwal

Ms. Shashikala

Sankalpsidhi bahuuddeshiya Sanstha is one of the best sanstha in solapur. to support & help poor people in solapur,46,Bhavani peth Tuljapur ves,Solapur Near S.M.C School NO.2 Solapur Posted:- [Saitshmane, solapur] (External Link)date 10th April 2008 Manakeshwar St.joseph high school solapur one of the oldest school in solapur established in 1897.not added on the website of solapur education section . Sachin Gadade solapur (sachin.1677@yahoo.com)

Further Information
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